Tasseomancy
by Aphiria
Summary: Tasseomancy (also known as tasseography) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves. Byakuya makes a choice, one that will change his life forever, and it all starts with tea.
1. Chapter 1

_I rewatched the first two seasons of Bleach and The Hell Verse movie while on break, and this ship ate at me until I wrote it. Some things will not line up with canon (seeings as I haven't actively watched/caught up on Bleach since I was like 14), but I am willing to fix any huge, grievous errors if they are spotted._

* * *

Byakuya does not know what makes him stop in this particular backyard on his last night of patrolling several human cities. The boy, fast asleep in his room, cannot sense him. He cannot see him. He cannot hear the apologies that Byakuya has accumulated but cannot speak for the position he holds and his pride. If his sister were in his shoes, Rukia would say them. She would scream them out across the night, but her grief is too deep, her actions too limited, and her emotions too raw.

Kuchiki Byakuya is not pleased with the way things were handled with the substitute shinigami. He is dissatisfied with the way that someone so worthy as Kurosaki Ichigo, who has sacrificed so much for people he barely knows and a world he doesn't belong to, is discarded once he is no longer of use. The only thing that Soul Society have done right is to station a somewhat competent shinigami in Karakura Town to watch over this family. Isshin is highly capable of protecting himself and his own, but it is the only reprieve, the only gratitude, they show this family.

There is nothing he can do to rectify Ichigo's loss of his powers. There is little he can do to make his sister smile. Though the bag of Chappy the Bunny gummies hidden in his robes will cheer her up for a scant few minutes. He stands in the small backyard, a different quiet than his garden at Kuchiki Manor, but still peaceful. Besides Abarai Renji, Kurosaki Ichigo was the only person who could make his sister smile so easily, who knew what to do to make her happy (maybe even better than Renji). Byakuya wishes he could ask him if only to help ease her suffering. He turns away from the house, secure with the knowledge that all is well. A voice stops him before he can disappear.

"Byakuya-sama?"

He follows the sound of the voice to the young girl standing in the open door of the back porch, the light from the kitchen spilling out around her. Byakuya knows of Ichigo's family. Knows that of his twin sisters only one can see spirits, can talk to them, and can sense reiatsu. This is not the sister with these abilities. He is intrigued. That is the only reason why he pauses to answer her (and he will argue it for years to come).

"Kurosaki Yuzu."

The girl doesn't startle. Instead, she offers him a small smile and a polite bow.

"I was just making some tea. Would you care to join me, Byakuya-sama?"

There is no reason for him to stay, and yet there is no reason for him to be here in the first place. If Isshin has noticed his hidden reiatsu, and there is really no doubt that he hasn't, he makes no move to interrupt. Byakuya nods and follows her into the softly lit kitchen. It is a small, but tidy home. Byakuya watches as the quiet girl prepares the tea. She is not unnerved by Byakuya's presence. She pours him the first cup and waits for him to take a sip before taking some of her own. It is surprisingly good.

"How do you know of me?"

Her brows furrow, like this isn't the question she was prepared for, but she answers.

"Rukia-chan, she spoke very highly of her brother. Though I supposed she still does."

Something dark passes across her features, and Byakuya notices just how tired the girl looks. He can see that she carries exhaustion around her eyes, the same as her brother does. He knows without much doubt that this is not the first sleepless night she has had. He sets his cup down gently.

"How long have you been able to interact with spirits and sense reiatsu?"

She cradles her cup in her hands before looking up to him.

"After I was rescued from hell."

He nods. Trauma of that magnitude has different effects on everyone. Trauma of that magnitude has different effects on Kurosakis.

"You have not told anyone."

She smiles into her cup. It is a small, sad thing for a girl that Rukia has likened to the sun. She had loved to tell him of her adventures in the human world and the substitute shinigami's family before...

"My family has had enough to worry about."

He catches her eyes dart upward to the right, where her brother's room is.

"With Rukia-chan and Renji-kun gone, there was no one I could tell."

Byakuya feels a surge of frustration. It is dishonorable, what has been done to Kurosaki and in turn what has happened to his family. But Byakuya has his own honor to keep, regardless of his opinion on the matter. He does not elaborate or explain why the two no longer set foot in Karakura Town, but that is not what she needs.

They sit quietly for some time with nothing but silence and warm tea between them.

"It's because I died."

He finds that his teacup is nearly empty when she finally speaks. The fine tea leaves that gather at the bottom of the porcelain remind him of a fan. Byakuya has no reason to lie to her just as she had no reason to welcome him and offer him tea.

"Yes."

Her eyebrows furrow together. She looks much more than her 14 years. She is still but a child; a child that has faced such pain and fear for herself and her family.

"How did I even survive?"

No one could explain how she was revived after her soul chain was broken, but no one could find her anything but perfectly healthy, even Unohana-taichou and Inoue Orihime with their exceptional talents.

"I do not know."

Instead of looking troubled or fearful, she looks lost and resigned. It reminds him so much of Rukia before her execution that it turns his stomach. His mouth is moving before he truly considers his words.

"I have lived a very long life Yuzu-san, long enough to tell you that second chances are rare and are not to be wasted or second guessed."

She smiles at him, and he understands why Rukia always described her as she would the sun. Her smile is bright and carefree. It warms something in him.

"I haven't thought of it that way."

He simply nods his head as she gathers their empty cups. She bows her head respectively as she stands.

"Thank you, Byakuya-sama, for answering my questions and for your advice."

He stands and offers her a polite bow as well. If it shocks her, she doesn't show it. He is glad that she doesn't listen to everything Rukia or her brother tells her. A person should be able to form their own opinion of others without outside influences. He is also glad that she is much more respectful and polite than her brother.

"Thank you for the tea, Kuzu-san."

She offers him another smile as she heads to put their dishes in the sink.

"Please, feel free to visit again."

When he lets himself out into the backyard again he waits until the lights turn off before he shifts his eyes to the right. Isshin is leaning against the house with his arms crossed.

"Kuchiki."

"Kurosaki."

Isshin watches him carefully for a moment before he relaxes his stance and runs a hand through the hair at the back of his head.

"Thank you. She hasn't been herself lately."

Byakuya scoffs.

"What a person needs and what they want are two very different things. I simply told her what she needed to hear."

Isshin snorts, but doesn't contest him. He cannot find fault with the man that has helped his daughter when her father could not.

"I wouldn't mind if you stopped by every once and awhile, ya know. It's kinda nice to see your ugly mug actually doing grunt work."

He refuses to roll his eyes. He is not the same man Isshin once knew how to get a rise out of.

"Heh."

When he finally leaves the human world, he feels lighter than he has in a very long time.

* * *

It continues, their midnight tea. It is the same night every month. Sometimes they talk. Sometimes they do not. Isshin sometimes appears and speaks to him. Kurosaki Ichigo sleeps through each meeting undisturbed.

No one in Soul Society questions his trips to the human world, but Rukia tells him that he looks calmer when he returns. He has taken to spending more time with her; something Yuzu had encouraged him to do. She smiles more readily and those smiles take longer to disappear. They have started to draw together at least once every few weeks. It is soothing.

So is the tea that Yuzu brews.

* * *

He misses their meeting for the first time in three years in the fall. He spends the day in the family shrine as he does every year, speaking to Hisana and telling her what she has missed. He does not think Yuzu would fault him for it. She has spoken to him of how her family visits her mother's grave on her birthday. When he leaves the shrine, it is the first time in centuries that he doesn't feel weighed down by his grief. He actually finds that there is little grief left. He misses Hisana, he knows that he always will, but it no longer aches inside of his chest.

The month passes in a blur. There is a battle, short but vicious and unsparing of life. He is barely recovered from his wounds, his left arm and leg still smart, when he returns to the human world. It's when he touches down on the cool grass of the Kurosaki's backyard that he remembers exactly how much time does not slow for humans. He can feel a new reiatsu, small but strong, buffering against him insistently as soon as he lands. Isshin silently appears next to him, his skills as sharp as the day he left Seireitei.

"She doesn't want to talk."

Byakuya frowns.

"Then she will listen."

He doesn't have to knock. She can sense the small amount of reiatsu that he lets out. It is a small test, one that she passes, and one that weighs heavily on him. He is somewhat proud that she can sense it, that she has enough power to be able to identify it as his. A small part of him is angry, angry that she too has no say in this. But he pushes those emotions aside because they will not help her, not here, not now.

She opens the door with a smile. He notices how it doesn't exactly reach her eyes. He sits in his usual spot at the table and is given his cup of tea. They drink in silence. Byakuya knows that silence will not break her as it would her brother, or even, as he has come to learn, her twin sister.

"This is not the full extent of my reiatsu."

She startles, just slightly, but he sees the ripples of motion in her tea. She has yet to truly meet his gaze since she let him in. It is highly unusual of her.

"You would be unable to move if I were to release even a quarter of it."

She blinks and sets her mug gently on the table. He watches her quietly as he does the same.

"How long have you noticed your own spiritual pressure?"

There is no hesitation in her answer, just resignation. He finds that he does not like that tone in her voice.

"Just after your last visit."

Just like that, it seems as if her strings are cut. She lets out a harsh breath and finally, finally looks him in the eye. Her brown eyes are troubled. He does not like that either.

"I didn't want… my father knows more than what he lets on. We are very much alike that way."

She smiles into her tea. It's a bitter thing.

"I can tell that he doesn't want to talk about it. And after Ichigo… I don't want to burden him with this. I won't."

He will not spare her feelings. It may cost her or others their lives.

"Then you will let people die for your foolish wants."

She doesn't knock over her cup of tea only because he moves it from her reach.

"No! I don't want that."

He sets it further from her animated hands and continues the conversation. Her face is flushed either in embarrassment or anger. The Kurosaki's all seem to have a temper, it's just that it is very hard to pull it from Isshin or Yuzu easily, if at all.

"Hollows are attracted by reiatsu. If you do not seek help to control your spiritual pressure or learn how to conceal it, then you put many others besides your family and yourself at risk."

She blinks up at him, face draining of color as she stills.

"I, I didn't know that."

He lifts one shoulder.

"So I have informed you. You are no longer ignorant. What you chose to do with this information is up to you."

He watches as she processes their conversations, much more quickly than he had when he was told, when Rukia when she was told.

"How do I learn how to control it?"

He settles his hands on the table in front of him. He is equal parts relieved and frustrated that she did not ask him to teach her.

"There is a man, Kisuke Urahara. Your brother would have mentioned him before. He will help you if you ask."

He moves to stand but stills. He does not want this life for her. But it is her life, and she is free to do as she chooses. He just wants to make sure that she understands, that she is given the option, unlike her brother.

"He will ask you to make a decision. Whatever you decide will be up to you, Yuzu-san."

He squeezes her shoulder gently on the way out. She does not tell him goodbye as she has for months and months. He does not find rest easily that night or the nights that follow.

* * *

When he returns the next month, the lights in the kitchen are out, but he finds Yuzu sitting in the grass in the backyard staring up at the sky. Byakuya silently sits next to her. She studies him carefully. He doesn't need to look at her to see that she looks better since their last encounter.

"There was a hollow. It was taken care of, but not before it took out a substation in town."

Byakuya had gathered as much with his own senses and the report the Karakura Town Shinigami had given him. She had not participated in the battle, and Byakuya feels somewhat relieved that she has not stepped into her brother's shoes, not that she could not have handled the hollow, but that she had a choice to make where her brother did not. It was a messy battle, and it is why the stars are so easily visible in the small city still.

"Urahara-Sensei has been teaching me to control and mask my reiatsu. He also told me that you tried to kill my brother."

Her voice is still calm. It is said as a statement and not as an accusation. They have always been honest with each other, an unspoken agreement since that first night.

"I did."

She nods and goes back to staring at the stars.

"He would have made you break a promise you made to yourself."

"Yes."

She pulls her eyes away from the constellations to meet his. They are that warm brown again now. They are more knowing as well. It seems that Kisuke Urahara has been teaching her more than just control.

"I'm sorry."

He narrows his eyes, knows his brow is furrowed, but cannot contain his confusion.

"You did not commit the transgression. Your apology is not needed."

She smiles at him as if he has said something silly. He refuses to concede any more ground to her this evening. He frowns at her. She shakes her head gently, sensing that he will not ask what she means, and speaks.

"Yes, but it is still given."

She points to the kenseikan in his hair.

"Family is ours to love and protect, and where both my brother and father are concerned, to apologize for."

It is very hard not to return her fond smile. It would also not do to hold her accountable to apologize on her brother's behalf let alone her father's. She'd lose her voice long before she would be anywhere near finished.

"Heh."

She bumps her shoulder with his gently and goes back to gazing at the stars. He ignores her offense against his person. He finds that most things are easy to ignore when in Yuzu's company.

* * *

Only once in three years, does she miss their meeting.

She has sat up, sick as a dog, to apologize to him for not being able to have tea with him. She was shaking with fever at the time, and Byakuya scolded her before carrying her up to bed. He also chastised Isshin for not doing the same earlier. Byakuya was not swayed by the once Shinigami's chattering teeth or sweating brow. He'd have to be faster with his wadded Kleenex missiles for that.

She has fallen asleep on her textbooks while studying for finals because she had tried to wait up for his arrival. He had simply closed her books and pressed a hand to her shoulder gently until she roused herself enough to move to the sofa to continue her sleep. She apologized profusely at their next meeting and treated him to his favorite tea, though he knows he has never made mention of it.

She is too smart, too observant, and so unlike her brother. When he told Ichigo as much, the young shinigami had tried to take his head off. He spent the better part of a month rebuilding his office after Ichigo exited through the back wall. He would not admit it, but he was grateful that Ichigo had his powers back, if only for the excuse to finally get rid of the atrocious wallpaper the former Captain of the 6th Division had put up.

She has never not met him. He is surprised that he is not angry. He should be at the blatant discourtesy. Instead, he finds himself worried. Isshin is the one who greets him. Not with tea but with sake. He is barefooted and sprawled across a lawn chair in his backyard.

"She cried herself to sleep."

The only outward emotion Byakuya shows is the shifting of his eyes to where her room is above them. He looks back to Isshin and raises a brow.

"Her first boyfriend broke up with her."

Byakuya narrows his eyes. He does not like this boy who lacks decorum and decency. The next words are said with force, with venom.

"It is her birthday."

Isshin frowns as he tosses back his cup.

"She won't let us mess with him. Made us promise we wouldn't, but Karin got in a good hit at football practice. She said it was worth the red card. She all but kicked Ichigo through a Senkaimon, and made Rukia promise to not send him home until he cooled off. So I don't expect to see him oh, until a few months from now."

Byakuya doesn't smile, but it is a near thing. Her family may not be able to do anything, but he has made no such promises. She probably did not tell him about this boy for fear of gaining yet another person to worry over her. She should know by now that Byakuya does not worry over people. He lets them make their choices, be they triumphs or mistakes. He does not fret over them... But will protect them and punish those that do them harm.

Byakuya sips the sake and enjoys the rich flavor of it on his tongue before he decides his course of action.

He takes out the two small packages that he had tucked away into his robes for safekeeping. One of the carefully wrapped gifts contains two hair clips that Byakuya found on trip to the human world. They look like footballs, but hold a lightning kido of his making on the inside that takes only a touch of the fingers and the right will to use. The other contains a necklace with a charm that he had commissioned Kisuke Urahara to forge, one that would help blanket reiatsu. He remembered how exhausting it was holding his own reiatsu back continuously until he completed his training, and that took years. He lays them both on the table next to a still grumbling under his breath Isshin and rises.

"Please, share my apologies with Karin-san and Yuzu-san. It seems that I have a meeting elsewhere."

Isshin grins and silently toasts him with his raised glass.

* * *

The next morning Karakura Town is ablaze with news of a local junior high school student found bound to the streetlight outside his house. It takes them hours to get him down because they can't figure out how he'd been stuck up there in the first place.

* * *

Yuzu does not chastise him for his actions at the next midnight tea, though she does grin at him and lifts one eyebrow in an unasked question, a trait that she has undoubtedly picked up from him. He merely sips his tea. She laughs, bright and carefree. He feels himself smiling back at her. It isn't the first time that she's pulled that emotion freely from him.

It isn't the last.

* * *

Their monthly meetings continue. Sometimes Karin joins them, usually to ask fairly detailed questions about Soul Society, once about how to spot weakness in an opponent (and that conversation resulted in a two month long prank war between Karin, Abarai Renji, and Kurosaki Ichigo that abruptly ended when ink was put into Byakuya's tea. Yuzu nearly electrocuted her own sister due to her reiatsu reacting the his reiatsu in Karin's clips, definitely electrocuted her older brother, and fried the eyebrows right off of his Lieutenant. It was the first time Byakuya has genuinely laughed in front of another person other than his sister in a very long time.)

Ichigo joins them when he isn't busy with the weight of two worlds on his shoulders. It is usually to try and annoy Byakuya into admitting that he's the better Shinigami. It usually ends with Yuzu flashing her brother a sharp smile and a polite reminder about etiquette and guests. Byakuya has never seen Ichigo look as scared as he does in those moments, and Byakuya had almost taken his life, twice.

Byakuya enjoys their meetings, their quiet talks, and, above even the tea she serves him, her company. But he knows, as he always has since their very first meeting, that it would come to an end.

It's one night so very similar to the countless others that he finds himself calling forth the Senkaimon after their visit. He smiles at nothing as the doors appear in front of him.

It stops him cold in his tracks. He closes his eyes and takes a silent breath. Yuzu is no longer the little girl he felt honor bound to look after. She has the power and will to protect herself now. He has seen her demonstrate it only a little, but what he has seen is more than enough proof of her abilities. If she was unable to protect herself, her brother is a Shinigami again, one of the best though Byakuya is still unable to admit it. Her father too, is still a formidable Shinigami.

She isn't a lost little girl needing his guidance. She is a young woman nearly ready to start her own life. Byakuya is not a part of that life. He will not be. He has stolen enough of it as it stands now. For the first time in a very long time, his heart aches.

He returns not to his home, but to the family shrine.

"It seems as if I have failed you once again, Hisana."

The bells of the shrine strike gently in the soft breeze. He swears that he hears Hisana's soft laughter in the sound.

* * *

He had not intended to skip their next meeting. He is many things but a coward will never be one of them. But the miscreants and wrong doers in Soul Society have always had extremely poor timing. It isn't until four months later that he is able to make their meeting again. She doesn't seem the least bit offended at the missed meetings. Ichigo had probably told her about the Quincy's attack.

She pours him a cup of tea, and uncharacteristically, does not pour one for herself. He raises an eyebrow. She ignores it.

"I am very glad to see that you are okay. Ichigo told me about how they stole your Bankai."

He nods, but does not feel like reliving past wounds not with a new wound about to be made by his own hand.

"Kisuke Urahara has made it known that your training is coming to a close."

She smiles at him, letting the conversation float away easily as water over rock.

"He's taught me everything he can. He keeps telling me I've mastered my abilities, but there is always room from improvement. Someone taught me that."

Her smiles turns brighter as she looks at him, only to fall into something soft. She lays a gentle hand on the fabric of the new robe covering his arm. Her eyes linger on his hair, now longer and unbound.

"I like this new look. It makes you seem…lighter."

He huffs which makes her smile. He does feel lighter. She has had a very big part to do with it. Whether she knows it or not.

"I thought it time for change."

She shifts in her seat and his eyes catch sight of something silver, something he hasn't seen in nearly three years. He touches the chain at her neck. The charm is tucked safely into her shirt, no longer a robe or pajamas for his visits, where he cannot see. Her fingers brush against his as she too touches the chain. Her nails are painted a soft pink he notices. It reminds him of the color of the petals of Senbonzakura.

"I don't really need it anymore, but…"

She trails off and focuses her eyes on the window facing the backyard. There is a small garden growing there now. It has Yuzu written all over it. He tries to imagine it in the years to come, overflowing with vegetables and fruits and delicate flowers that hide their strength in plain sight.

"It is hard to let go of things that become routine."

He hums under his breath as she turns to him, a smile on her face.

"I don't think I've ever said thank you for it."

He shrugs, "gratitude is not necessary."

She rolls her eyes at him but takes his wrist and gently pulls until he follows her and stands. Her arms are around him before he truly registers her movements.

It was not so long ago that she barely came up to his hip. Now she fits neatly under his chin as he holds her against him. When she pulls away, she studies his eyes. Another thing that has changed are those warm brown eyes. They have become more knowing over the years, especially where Byakuya is concerned.

"You're not coming back."

It is not a question. She needs no answer. He gives her one anyway.

"There is no longer a reason for me to."

She studies him quietly for sometime, and he cannot bring himself to speak. She smiles softly and leans forward to brush her lips against his cheek.

"Then I believe this is goodbye, Byakuya."

For some reason, the use of his given name does not bother him coming from this Kurosaki's lips.

"Goodbye, Yuzu."

He studies her for one heartbeat when he pulls away, commits the gentle comfort of her reiatsu to his memory, before he flash steps to the park where he usually activates his family's private Senkaimon.

Isshin is waiting for him there. The once Captain looks resigned and understanding. It sets Byakuya's teeth on edge. He knows that Isshin will not let this go easily, that he will not let him go easily.

"No reason, huh?"

He will not be coming back. Yuzu has a life to live. The human world is safe, and Soul Society is at peace. He has no reason to come back unless he is ordered to.

"She will live a long and happy life. That is what I want for her."

Isshin huffs and spits at his feet. He may as well open his mouth and call him a liar if only to cease from being so vulgar.

"It is what I cannot give to her if I stay, if I keep coming back."

He nods sharply and crosses his arms.

"What if she wants you to be a part of that life?"

There is no hesitancy in his thoughts or in his voice.

"Not yet."

Isshin rolls his eyes.

"You damn Kuchiki's. Always with the stoicism and your damn noble honor."

Byakuya doesn't react to his taunt. Isshin sighs because he knows that he has lost. He has played his last card, and it failed. When he speaks, it is in a quiet voice.

"I want what is best for my daughter."

Byakuya steels his spine and his resolve. He looks Isshin in the eye and calls forth the Senkaimon.

"Then you know that this is best."

He walks into the white light of Seireitei with his feet light of step but his heart heavy.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuzu does live a long and happy life. She dies peacefully in her sleep of old age and joins her family again in Seireitei as a part of the revived Shiba clan. Because fate is a cunning mistress, Byakuya doesn't see Yuzu again until she's in her last year at the academy, training alongside her twin sister to become a soul reaper like her father and brother.

Is it not that Byakuya hadn't wished to see her, but that it was nearly impossible to do so after the death of Yamamoto Soutaichou. All of the 13 Court Guard Squads were spread thin and were either without Taichous and Fukutaichous, or they had gravely wounded ones. When everything settled, fate still saw Byakuya running his division along with the majority of the 8th Division until a new Captain could hold the seat.

Byakuya is unsurprised to spot her in the crowd as he lectures the students of the academy one day on Kido. However, he is surprised how strong her abilities are. He meets her eyes on the practice field, her target is ash on the wind on her first try, and nods. She sends him a warm smile. It's lined with pride. He feels that same pride swell behind his breastbone as he turns away.

Ichigo is the one who corners him later. Or he tries to. Byakuya simply allows him to catch up. His flash steps are still faster than the new Captain's. He sighs heavily as he is reacquainted with what is still waiting for him in his office. It looks like Yachiru raided it for sweets again. However, there is less bloodshed this time.

"You haven't come to see her. Nearly 20 years and nothing."

He gestures to his office and the papers, files, and books strewn about it as he sits behind his desk.

"Some of us do have Divisions to run, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Tch, sounds like an excuse."

The rise in Byakuya's reiatsu is noticeable. His third seat squawks from her desk next door. Ichigo just grins wider.

"Do not dare to presume that my lack of availability is due to a lack of backbone. You of all people know that cowardice is not a trait I possess."

He breathes evenly as he tries and fails to straighten up the papers that have slid around his desk.

"Patience for paperwork, regardless of its vital importance to keep my division and several others running, is one trait that I am lacking in as of late."

Ichigo looks around the room, as if finally seeing it for the first time, and blinks back at Byakuya.

"You seriously weren't kidding."

Byakuya barely resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"No, I was not. Until Kyōraku Soutaichou appoints someone to the position, I will be handling the 8th Division Taichou's duties."

Ichigo smiles. It's wide and smug, and Byakuya regrets opening his mouth.

"And their paperwork."

This time Byakuya does pinch the bridge of his nose only to try and avoid the headache that is rapidly building behind his eyes.

"If you do not mind, the faster I get this done, the faster I can reconcile my grievous misdoings."

Ichigo snorts loudly as Byakuya pulls another thick file onto his desk with a heavy sigh. He is prepared to ignore Ichigo where he is still leaning against his office doorway with his head tilted to the side.

"You really do care about her. Don't you?"

Byakuya shoots him a flat glare.

"Have we not discussed this already? Do not dare to presume-"

"To know your actions, emotions, or thoughts? Yeah, yeah. But you do care about her."

Ichigo flops his hand around, but moves further into the room, grabbing a large stack of papers on his way to the guest seat in front of Byakuya's desk.

"What are you doing, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Ichigo snorts as he plucks a pen from the stand on Byakuya's desk.

"Like you said, the faster you get this taken care of, the faster you get to see my sister, and," he mumbles under his breath, "the happier everyone involved will be."

Byakuya spares him a glare, but turns back to his work. Apparently, someone in the 8th had tried to take on Kenpachi. The fool.

Just when silence falls again, Ichigo speaks up.

"She told me, what you did for her when I was," he trails off, signs a paper, places it in the correct tray and picks up another, "she wouldn't have made it without you. My dad, he had his reasons for not helping."

Byakuya shares a displeased look with Ichigo.

"Yeah, I don't agree with him on that, might not ever, but I understand. But you?" He points at Byakuya with his pen, "you never had a reason to help."

Byakuya doesn't interrupt him. He has found that it was sometimes best to just let Kurosaki talk his way through. He either made a point, sometimes they were even good points, or he talked himself out.

"I never said thank you."

He shrugs under Byakuya's blank stare.

"I never said thank you for leaving either."

Byakuya meets his steady brown eyes. He tries to convey what he would not say in words. Like his sister, those brown eyes are keen and knowing. Ichigo grins wryly.

"I'm not daring to presume anything. I don't care why you did it, but I'm grateful that you did. She deserved to have a life, to have a choice, and you gave that to her. Accept the thank you, Byakuya."

The gratitude is unneeded, but Byakuya nods anyway. They work for nearly an hour, putting a rather large dent in the paperwork that litters his office. Byakuya hopes that it would not reappear come morning. He steeples his finger and watches Ichigo carefully.

"I was expecting much more discouragement on your part."

Ichigo snorts, snorts again as he reads the file (one of his subordinates was "accidentally" experimented on by the 12th Division, Byakuya "accidentally" cut off Kurotsuchi Mayuri's hand), and signs it with his barely legible signature. Byakuya does not particularly care because a Captain's signature is still a Captain's signature.

"She's still my kid sister, but Yuzu is old enough to make up her own mind. Hell, she's more responsible than me anyway, smarter too."

Byakuya huffs a laugh. She had just celebrated her twenty-second birthday in Seireitei. He had sent her sunflowers and camellias. In Seireitei, birthdays are celebrated but not as lavishly as in the human world. Bigger celebrations came when one made a century. He had heard from a rather chipper Rukia that Yuzu had enjoyed them.

"Better taste too."

Ichigo gives him a sharp glare. He shakes the files in his hand at Byakuya's face.

"You want my help or not?"

Byakuya simply leans away and picks up another file. He flips it open and gets to work. 100 odd years is a very long time to be separated from someone you care about.

* * *

When he heads to the 8th Division the next day to collect the day's paperwork and oversee the operations, he is rewarded with an all-out brawl between the 3rd seat Enjōji Tatsufusa and the 10th seat trying to gain his superior's seat as is common in the 11th Division.

Byakuya lets his reiatsu lash out. The fight immediately stops, but Byakuya has had enough.

He has had enough of the 8th Division and the complete lack of sense they have shown since their Captain became the Captain Commander of all of the 13 Court Guard Squads. If anything, the Captain Commander seems amused at their little rebellion. It's probably why he has yet to appoint a new Captain to the position, the idiot.

Byakuya has taken on all that his family has asked of him. He has taken on all that Soul Society has asked of him. He has taken it all on as is his duty, but he will not allow it to keep him from the one thing he has wanted for himself in centuries. He will not allow these miscreants to keep him from her after all this time.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

* * *

He carries his packages securely under his arm. He pays no heed to Ise Nanao's words, nor those of Okikiba Genshirō. He blows open the doors to the Assembly Hall. Kyōraku Shunsui watches almost amusedly as Byakuya advances and drops the two unconscious shinigami at the Captain Commander's feet.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to snap. Though I will lose the bet with Jūshirō," he gestures towards the men unmoving on the floor, "I thought you'd slice them up a bit more."

Byakuya takes a breath and reminds himself that physically assaulting the Captain Commander will end in him losing his head.

"You bet on me."

Shunsui smiles broadly.

"Of course! We had to do something. You keep dragging your feet!"

Byakuya grips the handle of his blade tightly. He thinks of his honor and his pride and the fact that being killed will put a very large hitch in his very carefully laid plans.

"As have you. Elect a new Taichou to the 8th Division, so that we can both get on with our lives."

It isn't a command, and it isn't exactly a threat. Shunsui places his chin in his hand and sighs heavily behind his proud smile.

"Ah, to be young and in lo-"

"Scatter, Sen-"

Shunsui laughs and waves him away, uncaring of the petal blades starting to fill the room.

"I'll fill the seat tomorrow if you are that worked up about it."

Byakuya grits his teeth but sheathes his sword. The headache that follows him all the way back to his squad office throbs in time with the echoes of the Captain Commander's laugh. He is expecting a few more stacks of paperwork to be waiting on him, not Yuzu pouring out tea into two waiting cups. He hesitates at the door.

"Renji-kun let me in, though he did take the dumplings I picked up as payment."

He closes the door quietly and makes his way over to his desk chair.

"Even the best of us have our weaknesses."

She smiles at him brightly.

"And what is yours?"

He studies her quietly in the warmly lit room. Gone are the school uniforms or the bunny printed pajamas. Instead, she is in the traditional Shihakusho that all Shinigami's wear. Her hair is long, nearly as long as his. She looks nothing like the young girl he knew, but at the same time she looks exactly the same. They speak as if not a day has passed between them.

He realizes that she has been studying him just as carefully. He picks up the cup of tea in front of him and inhales the aroma before he takes a delicate sip. He sighs into it, the warmth easing the tension in his shoulders, though he could be pressed to admit that it may just be her presence doing that.

"An excellent cup of tea."

She smiles at him as she collects her own cup. They sit in comfortable silence for a while before his curiosity demands answers.

"What brings you to my Division so late at night?"

She frowns down at her lap before meeting his eyes.

"I was worried. I felt your reiatsu from home earlier, and Rukia said that you had not returned home."

Byakuya blinks. He hadn't thought he had released that much. He must be more exhausted than he thought. Yuzu, always so perceptive, gives him a small smile.

"It wasn't noticeable at all unless you know what you're looking far."

She must have memorized the feel of his reiatsu as he had memorized hers. It hadn't changed at all when she finally joined Seireitei. He noticed it the second her soul had crossed over.

"There was no danger. I simply... lost my cool."

She laughs, and it makes him smile to hear it again.

"You? Lose your cool? I don't believe it."

He sighs.

"The 8th Division has been without a Captain to keep them in check for far too long. There was a fight between two seated members. I ended it. There will be a new 8th Division Captain in the morning."

She inclines her head and lifts her cup to him. He rolls his eyes. It makes her smile wider.

"I've missed this."

He returns her smile.

"So have I, though I would not be unhappy if they were to start again."

"No."

Her response is immediate. He schools he features into a blank mask. If he had pushed her too far, had made her uncomfortable… He had thought-

He is pulled from his thoughts by her blushing face and franticly moving hands.

"No! I mean not no, no. I mean no to midnight!"

She rests the fingers of one hand on her forehead gently with a sigh. Byakuya takes the time to smile at her as his heart tries to find a familiar rhythm. When she finally pulls her hand away, it is still to him smiling amusedly at her. She rolls her eyes.

"What I meant to say is that you stay here until midnight far too often."

He doesn't deny it. She frowns at him.

"I am done with my classes at four every day. I was hoping that you would be available to have tea with me at the Shiba mansion at five."

Byakuya blinks at her. Did she just? She just asked him out, as Rukia would say. She must notice his astonishment because she forges ahead.

"I would like it to be more often than once a month, but I know it can't be every day. I know how busy you are, and that's not to say that I'm not busy either but-"

He cuts her off by catching her hand from knocking over her teacup. He places the cup carefully on his desk, and gently holds her hand.

"Whichever day and whatever time you set is fine. I would like to offer my home as well. I believe that you will enjoy the quiet that comes with being away from your family. If that enticement fails, the gardens are quite beautiful."

She laughs, but grips his hand back.

"Yes, I would like that very much."

He looks down at his desk to collect himself, he hasn't had trouble controlling his emotion since he was a boy in the academy, and sees the not quite few stacks of paperwork left for him to complete. That seems to help dampen the mood.

"And I would very much like to continue our conversation, but my duties to Seireitei are still not complete."

She stands up abruptly, gathering up the cups and kettle to place back on the tray.

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to distract you."

He shakes his head and stands, moving to take the tray away from her and place it on the end table nearby.

"No, you were a welcome distraction from the day's events, but I have enjoyed it for too long. And you have classes in the morning as well."

She smiles at him, soft and kind.

"Try and get some sleep tonight, Byakuya."

She knows that he does not make promises that he cannot keep. Instead, he simply smiles and leads her to the door.

"Goodnight. Sleep well, Yuzu."

He watches as she leaves him and listens to her footsteps fade away into the night for a long time before turning back to his desk.

He feels something he hasn't felt in a very, very long time.

Hope.

* * *

Byakuya is not a jealous man. He does not envy others, not as he once did as a child or, as his eyes land on familiar orange hair, not as he once did years ago. No, he is not a jealous or envious man, but he is a protective one. He eyes the man joining him at the table. Matsumoto had caught him at the bar and sent him over with Byakuya's fresh bottle of pricey sake. (It only cost him a crate of said sake for her to perform that particular task.)

"Muguruma Kensei."

The silver haired Visored inclines his head as Byakuya pours them both a drink.

"Byakuya, we don't normally see you here."

Byakuya glances around the bar. It is true that he rarely ever goes out, to the Sake House rarely still. But he has a mission tonight. He focuses back on Muguruma. The man had come back to Seireitei and picked up where he left off. He is not an incompetent Captain much to Byakuya's dismay.

"Rukia has asked me to make an appearance."

Her exact request was to not mope in his office until Yuzu gets back from her training mission in the human world because it is unbecoming, nii-san. Byakuya makes sure Rukia sees him at the table unofficially reserved for those of the seated Court Guard Squad. She waves happily at him before pushing further into the bar with Ichigo and Renji at her back. He makes a mental note to speak to her about the two pining idiots that trail her wherever she goes if she wishes to speak of unbecoming actions.

"Your sister is pretty persuasive when she wants to be."

He doesn't grin behind his cup though he wants to. Rukia did ask him to come, but she is not the root cause of why he is sitting in the bar.

"She has somehow persuaded Hitsugaya Tōshirō into training her in how to control her Bankai."

The sake is warm and sweet on his tongue. From Muguruma's sigh, he must think the same.

"Yuzu has also said that you have agreed to train her with her Bankai."

She had asked Byakuya for his advice during one of their afternoon teas. Muguruma Kensei was the only shinigami that had a similar Wind-Type Zanpakutō to Yuzu's, and he had encouraged Yuzu to ask him to train her. She had taken his advice readily and within a week she began training with Muguruma.

"She speaks very often of your training. She admires you."

Byakuya doesn't take offense when Yuzu regales him with tales of her teacher or training. He enjoys hearing about her accomplishments or her failures or her day regardless of who is featured in those talks.

"She's a good student, fast learner," he smiles into his drink, "She is going to be kicking my ass pretty soon. I'm running out of things to teach her."

Byakuya watches him carefully. He is not a jealous man, but he is also not a complacent one. Not anymore. Not after Rukia. Never again.

"You care for her."

Muguruma shrugs as he sips his drink. He watches Byakuya over the rim of the cup.

"'lot of people do."

Byakuya leans forward, eyes narrowing on Muguruma. He does not like how the man's eyes are laughing at him.

"Let me be perfectly clear, Muguruma. I care for Yuzu. I want what is best for her. If what she needs cannot be found in the solace of my arms, I will not stand in the way of her finding it in another's."

The pain that lances through him is sharp and bright and real. He will step aside if she decides that he is not what she needs. It will not kill him as losing Hisana did not kill him, but he will still wish for death. He sharpens his gaze.

"But if you hurt her in any way, I will take great pleasure in tearing you apart piece by piece."

Muguruma's smile falters as Byakuya continues.

"You will be begging for Senbonzakura when I am done with you."

Muguruma blinks at him for a few seconds.

"You should really use this shovel talk on whoever Rukia decides to bring home because I'm not even interested in Yuzu, and I don't think my balls will unshrivel anytime soon."

Byakuya lifts one shoulder. He knows of his reputation. He knows how to use it to his advantage just as he is now. He watches the man across from him with steady eyes. Muguruma sighs.

"Yuzu is my student, and when her training is over, the only relationship I want to have with her is one of friendship."

"I am quite aware of that, Muguruma. But if your interest ever changes, you should know who you would be competing with."

Muguruma laughs at his sharp grin, but he accepts the cup of sake Byakuya places in front of him.

"I don't think anyone has the guts to tell you this, but your intentions to Yuzu are crystal freaking clear to pretty much all of Seireitei."

Byakuya raises an eyebrow.

"They were meant to be."

A wry smile stretches across Muguruma's face.

"She doesn't really mind it either."

This time, Byakuya let's himself grin.

"It is always nice to have your suspicions confirmed."

Matsumoto comes back to the table to a cackling Muguruma and a smiling Byakuya. She takes their bottle of sake away. Byakuya doesn't mind. His mission is accomplished.

* * *

The week before graduation is reserved for celebration… and for fighting. The fighting is not required to graduate, but it is more of a showcase of talent. Most Guard Squads have already unofficially selected the new shinigami that they want to join their ranks. The Captain Commander rarely ever goes against his Captains' preferred candidates. Yamamoto only ever placed a candidate if more than two squads bid on the same candidate. The last one he had to place had been Rukia herself.

Most students participate to show their skills and prove that they would be an asset to the squad that bid on them. Some participate in hopes of getting a bid. Some participate because they are duty bound.

Byakuya didn't necessarily agree with the unnecessary battle, but he had no choice as his family's honor was on the line. Yuzu has confided in him that she feels much the same. As her family is from the Shiba Clan, she too must participate. She has also never said where she wishes to be placed, she is far too humble and will be pleased to be in whichever squad wins her bid, but Byakuya knows which one she hopes for.

He spots Renji sitting just above the Kurosaki's in the tournament stands. Isshin is grinning like a mad fool even as Karin holds him back from hugging her with a sandaled foot planted squarely in her father's chest. She has just won her battle, her bow strapped securely to her back. Much like her older brother, her Zanpakutō does not have a sealed form and is quite the ode to her and her mother's Qunicy heritage. Ichigo doesn't seem to mind, smiling softly at his family's antics before he notices Byakuya.

"Yo, Byakuya. Didn't think you'd be here."

He refuses to let Kurosaki get under his skin today. He hasn't been to a tournament in centuries. There was no one worth the trip to the tournament grounds before. He preferred to keep track during the year to watch as the candidates learned and grew, watched potential rise in them. He takes the open seat at Renji's right.

"I am here to see Yuzu's battle."

Karin, free of her father who seems to be sobbing happily into Rukia's handkerchief, sits on Renji's left with a proud smile on her face. She gestures to the stands filled to the brim around them. Every Captain and Co-Captain seem to be in attendance.

"I think half of Seireitei is here to see Yuzu."

Renji snorts and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Other half is here to see you."

Karin rolls her eyes, plucks Renji's sunglasses from the front fold of his uniform, and puts them on while leaning into the row of seats behind them. Renji watches her with an amused smile. She shoots him one of her own as she kicks her legs up onto his lap.

"Just giving them something to see."

Byakuya makes a mental note to speak to Ichigo about his social awareness skills… and also to ask his sister why she finds a man that regularly has his mouth hanging wide open attractive.

"Kuchiki."

Byakuya inclines his head to the captain seated now at his right. It would not bode well for him if he did not show. Yuzu was his student after all. Ichigo gives Muguruma Kensei a quick wave. He is distracted for good reason. Yuzu and her assigned opponent had entered the arena.

They bow and take their stances. Her opponent, a boy with a rather bland Zanpakutō but a moderate amount of reiatsu, strikes first. Yuzu evades him easily. It almost seems as if she is dancing at some points with the way she evades his strikes and deals with some of her own. They test each other, show off their shunpo abilities, and demonstrate their kido skills. It is impressive the way she can read her opponent and cleverly counter his attacks, but even Byakuya can tell that she is holding back. Yuzu would never hurt any being for pleasure, but he knows from firsthand experience that she is a skilled shinigami. She is not showing her true potential in this battle.

He hears Muguruma Kensei's voice rise above all the other voices, "Stop messing around already, Yuzu! Knock that sorry excuse of a Shinigami into next week!"

While Yuzu does not take her eyes off of her opponent, she does heed her mentor's instruction. She pulls herself to her full height and moves her Zanpakutō in front of her. The whole arena quiets as her voice rises above the din of voices.

"Shield, Jihibukai Seishin."

Suddenly, the purple handled wakizashi transforms into a large spiked fan. It nearly covers her from chin to hip, yet she wields it if it is as light as a feather. this is the first time he's even seen it released. It seems as if the whole crowd holds its breath as her opponent advances. He swings his now released Zanpakutō, now it is a rather bland and oversized katana, with all the power he has. Yuzu doesn't move. Byakuya is not worried in the slightest. Ichigo is leaning forward in his seat, Isshin is chewing his fingernails, and Karin is gripping Renji's hand.

She lifts her Zanpakutō at the last second. The blast of reiatsu simply disperses against the gleaming silver like fireworks across the night sky.

Byakuya nearly smiles, though Muguruma Kensei is grinning like a mad fool next to him. Byakuya understands why. Like her mentor's Zanpakutō, hers too is a wind type. Yuzu had simply blown her opponent's reiatsu away by using her own reiatsu like wind.

Yuzu surprises him though, with what she does next. She spins her fan over her fingertips and advances.

"Soremunsōdo."

She cuts her fan through the air, collapsing it, and sends a surge of reiatsu of her own. The boy barely manages to evade. The blow cuts a clean and deep wound into the arena ground.

"Hell yeah!"

Karin swiftly whacks her brother in the head. They watch as Yuzu follows him relentlessly. Muguruma Kensei speaks almost absently as he watches he pupil spar below.

"Jihibukai Seishin is meant as a defensive weapon, but when Yuzu channels her reiatsu into a concentrated point it will pierce anything it hits. ...she doesn't like to use it."

Byakuya nods but doesn't take his eyes off of Yuzu and the twirl or her fan.

"Solemn Sword, it suits her."

She uses her fan as a shield twice more before her opponent finally faces her again. He realizes what Byakuya himself has realized at the very beginning of the battle, Yuzu has much more patience and reiatsu that he does. The battle won't last much longer. Her opponent puts all his energy behind the swing of his blade. An impressive blast of reiatsu heads straight for her. Yuzu doesn't move. Instead, she raises her fan and uses it to cut the blast clean in two. The crowd erupts into a murmur as the now two blasts head straight for the stands.

They shouldn't have worried. Even if the Kido Corps weren't already springing into action, Yuzu had planned ahead. Her reiatsu glows a brilliant blue as it shields the stands from the impact. Her opponent is shocked at her ability to perform a wordless kido, and it is just enough time for Yuzu to land a blow.

She truly does dance now, spinning in a circle and bringing her fan down with an impressive and completely controlled wave of reiatsu. Her opponent is blown off his feet and into the ground. He doesn't get back up.

While the crowd erupts in cheers and Isshin is nearly strangling Renji (as his other two children were smart enough to duck) with his joy, Byakuya watches as Yuzu rushes to her nearly unconscious opponent's side and starts to work her way quickly through a healing kido. The crowd gasps. Byakuya rises, a small smile that he cannot help on his face, and joins Yuzu, her family, and the healers sent from Squad 4. Her voice is calm as she lists his injuries and quickly tapers off her healing kido so that a member of the 4th Squad can start one of his own.

Byakuya offers her his hand to pull herself up.

"You did very well, Yuzu."

She smiles back at him and squeezes his hand. He doesn't have much time to do much else as Isshin gathers her into a delighted if not a teary eyed hug. She quickly gives the rest of her family hugs before she joins the escort around her sparring partner to the healing tents. Byakuya inclines his head to Isshin before bringing himself to his office.

There is nothing else for him to see, not with Yuzu's proud grin replaying in his mind.

* * *

The day before Yuzu graduates, Ichigo comes barging into his office, still hotheaded and brash. Not even accepting a Captain's position seems to have curbed those particular qualities. He also has not seemed to learn that it is not in anyone's best interest to threaten Byakuya, yet here he is, stabbing a finger into his chest.

"What the hell, Byakuya!? Yours is the only Division that didn't put a bid on her! Is she not good enough for you? Huh!? You'd be lucky to have someone as talented, as amazing as Yuzu in your squad!"

Byakuya keeps his eye from twitching from centuries of practice and sheer force of will. He keeps his voice calm and even as he speaks.

"I am quite aware of how exceptional Yuzu and her abilities are, Kurosaki Ichigo. I have watched her progress in the academy closely, as have many others. I have encouraged her to start training with her Bankai under the tutelage of a competent Captain with a similar Zanpakutō. I have even gone so far as to train her in Shunpo myself."

Ichigo's mouth flopped open and closed. Byakuya took the time to remove Ichigo's finger from his person with a quick adjustment of his robe. It seems Yuzu hadn't told him about their weekly training sessions. She's probably waiting to show him up the next time he challenges her to a Flash Step race. She may be quiet, but she is devious when she wants to be.

"I also have no doubt that she would make an excellent addition to my squad with said abilities. A fool of a Captain would not want her. It is simply that what I want and what she needs are two vastly different things."

Ichigo sits heavily in the guest chair. He stares up at Byakuya like he's actually seeing him for the very first time. It kinds of reminds Byakuya how he looked at Ichigo the very first time they did meet, just with less unfiltered hatred.

"She is beyond talented, Ichigo. But it would be a great disservice to her and to all of Seireitei if she were in any squad other than the 4th. Her healing abilities will rival that of even Retsu Unohana one day. I will be surprised if she isn't granted a seated position at her graduation if not the second seat."

Ichigo leans back in his chair to let their conversation sink in. He shoots to his feet to walk tight circles in front of the desk.

"I can get 1st, 5th, 9th, and 11th to withdraw their bids. Can you get the rest?"

Byakuya inclines his head with a scoff. Like there was ever a doubt that he couldn't. There is one possible problem…

"You will have to fight Kenpachi."

Ichigo squares his shoulders and scoffs.

"She's worth it."

Byakuya wholeheartedly agrees.

* * *

Homicide was not something that Byakuya would have ever considered. Yes, he had killed before, but it was justified and in protection of all of Seireitei and the world. He had never actively thought of killing anyone for joy, least of all one of his fellow Captains. But, he thinks as he glares at the back of Kurosaki Ichigo's head, he would be willing to make an exception.

Kurosaki Ichigo had always tested his patience, but this? This was taking it too far.

It was the sixth consecutive week that he has interrupted his time with Yuzu. The first time was completely acceptable. Ichigo was Yuzu's patient at the time as his fight with Zaraki was what got in the 4th squad in the first place (and it was very easy to ignore him when he was unconscious in the medical division). The time after that he had fled into the garden at Kuchiki manor looking for Rukia to shelter him from Renji's wrath and, because noble manner dictates so much of Byakuya's life, he was asked to stay. Byakuya didn't think he would actually accept. The next few times were much the same. Either he stumbled upon them or interrupted them in some manner. This time however, he has apparently decided to tag along without invitation or provocation.

Byakuya stays his hand and takes a calming breath as they walk through Seireitei to his home. He had planned ahead. He could not tell if Ichigo was being willfully ignorant or being annoyingly idiotic. Either way, Rukia would be waiting for Ichigo with a Senkaimon and a sharp fist to the head. However, Ichigo is too busy talking about some innate topic with his sister to realize the spiritual pressure bearing down on them. Byakuya takes a moment to enjoy the complete look of dread on Ichigo's face. Yuzu laughs under her breath.

"Oh, shit."

A shadow looms over Ichigo.

"See Kenny, I said he was somewhere around here!"

Byakuya turns his face up to see the beast of the 11th division grinning down at the orange haired Captain. Yuzu smiles politely and bows.

"Captain Kenpachi, it's good to see you up and about."

Zaraki dwarfs Yuzu where he stands. But, as he darts his eyes to Byakuya, he inclines his head and offers her a grin. It is somewhat less maniacal than the one he gives her brother.

"You now that I heal fast, Yuzu."

She laughs at him, though Byakuya knows some of that laughter is directed at her brother and the nervousness they can all sense rolling off of him. They all know what Zaraki wants and apparently so does Ichigo.

"Oi, Ichigo. Ready for a rematch?"

The strawberry blonde stiffens and narrows his eyes. But before any swords can be drawn, a childish voice cuts the tension in the air.

"Hi, Strawberry Head! Hi, Yuzu-chan! Hi, Byakki!"

Yuzu smiles up at the pink haired girl that hangs from Zaraki's shoulder.

"Hello, Yachiru-sama. I believe Matsumoto-chan has brought back the candy you asked for from her last trip to Eart-"

The little girl's eyes light up, and she is gone before Yuzu can finish her sentence. Yuzu sighs, and turns back to Zaraki Kenpachi who is now in a staring contest with Ichigo. Byakuya places his hand gently on the small of Yuzu's back just a Zaraki draws his sword.

"Please, do not let us keep you."

"Keep you from what? I'm not fighting this lunatic!"

Byakuya can feel his eyebrow twitch. If he didn't know any better, he would say that Ichigo isn't being willingly dense, but actually means to throw a wrench in Byakuya's plans. Zaraki barks a laugh.

"You won't have much choice in a second."

But he pauses in his advance toward Ichigo. He has a thirsty glint in his eyes.

"Unless," he turns his wild grin on Yuzu, purposefully ignoring Byakuya's ice cold glare, "this Kurosaki wants to take your place?"

Yuzu laughs and shakes her head.

"I'm afraid not, Zaraki," she flicks her eyes to Byakuya's, "I am already quite late for tea."

He grunts but draws his sword back.

Ichigo looks amazed and slightly outraged, "She says no and you just… give up?"

Kenpachi grunts, "Ichigo, ain't you got any sense? When a woman says no, you don't force her."

He smiles his wild grin at Ichigo and then turns it onto Yuzu.

"'Sides, I know this one. She'll say yes one day."

It is Byakuya's turn to be startled as Yuzu smiles and nods. Ichigo gapes.

"I have to admit that fighting you has crossed my mind. But," she motions toward her brother, "you have to actually beat Ichigo before I would take your offer into consideration as he is the eldest."

The giant grins.

"I'll hold ya to it."

Yuzu nods and bows. It's a clear sign of departure, one that Byakuya will gladly take. They both watch as Zaraki plucks Ichigo from the ground, still too shocked to do much other than open and close his mouth like a fish, and tosses him over his shoulder before he flash steps to areas unknown presumably to battle. Byakuya turns to Yuzu and raises an eyebrow. She raises one right back.

"I love my brother, but he was starting to get on my nerves."

She merely takes his arm as they continue to walk.

"And Zaraki?"

"Needs no excuse to pick a fight with Ichigo."

The smiles she gives him in that moment, lined with pride and happiness, makes his heart warm.

* * *

Byakuya has not always liked the fact that every minute of his life is scheduled. He rebelled as a teen, though as he grew older he had used his job or his familial duties to excuse himself from either once or twice. But in some instances, he is grateful for it. It is how his comrades can find him so easily. Renji is leaning heavily into the door frame and looks like he has broken nose. Kusajishi Yachiru looks winded but is grinning happily, if not a little psychotically at him.

"Isshi and Kenny were fighting. It was getting pretty bad, so Yuzu-chan stopped them."

Byakuya needs to hear no more than that. He's arriving at Squad 4's headquarters between one heartbeat and the next. His desire to see Yuzu is barely overriding his desire to viciously harm two of his fellow Captains, injures be damned. Only, he stops short when he follows Yuzu's reiatsu to a healing room. She is sitting on the edge of her father's bed, arm in a sling, watching over her father and Kenpachi. They are both black and blue and unconscious.

"I asked them to stop."

Both he and a just arrived Ichigo stare. A smile blooms on her face as she turns to them. It is one that he knows to precede pain. He has seen her give it to many members of the Court Guard Squad when they belittle the 4th squad. She takes her position as co-3rd seat seriously.

"Then I made them stop."

She very much reminds him of Unohana in that moment. He is very, very grateful that Yuzu is fond of him. Ichigo beams with pride. While Byakuya shares the emotion, he is more concerned with the bandages on her arm. He steps into the room and makes his way to stand in front of her. Rukia collides into Ichigo's back. Both Byakuya and Yuzu ignore the racket they cause.

"How were you injured?"

She tries to lift her arm in a shrug and winces. He takes her uninjured hand gently in his.

"I got between them and used my Bankai. It worked," she looks down at her own arm, "just not too well. It wasn't strong enough to stop their blows fully."

She grins up at him as he frowns down at her. She shifts to lean to the side to see her brother. Something catches Byakuya's eye. He leans forward and gently lifts the chain hanging halfway out of her disheveled robe. He finds it hard to breathe. Rukia slams an elbow into Ichigo's stomach to quiet him and get his attention. (It is oddly effective.)

"You've kept it, after all this time?"

For something to follow you into the spirit world, the afterlife, isn't unheard of, but it is it extremely rare. Only things that are cherished, deeply loved, follow.

"I wear it so that my reiatsu doesn't make my patients sick."

He softens his voice to match his soft smile.

"You are very considerate, as always Yuzu. But wearing this could hurt you. Walking into battle without full use of your power will get you killed."

She meets his eyes and nods. He makes sure she understands what he says next.

"I will not allow that to happen."

She smiles at him and wraps her hand around his. He sweeps his thumb along her chin before standing upright again. He moves so that he is not blocking her from sight of her other guests. Ichigo looks like he might throw up. Rukia is barely containing her glee.

"I will have the limiter removed. You will train, not with your brother, to better control your reiatsu. Rukia, I am sure, would be glad to help if you asked."

"Hey-omph."

Rukia beams and nods where she stands with a wheezing Ichigo cradling his stomach with both hands. Yuzu shakes her head at Rukia, but smiles as she leans into Byakuya's shoulder. He runs his thumb gently across the back of her hand.

* * *

He commissions a new necklace to be made. This time it is one of his family's crest and seal. It is warded with words of protection and woven with the smallest amount of his reiatsu. He will feel if she is ever in danger. It is grand for his first courting gift, but he knows it will make her happy. And her needs will always come before what others want.

* * *

He feels soft hands against his shoulders. He sighs and leans back into the touch.

"I assume that there is a reason for the Ichigo shaped hole in the garden wall."

He thinks back to last night and exactly why Ichigo was tossed through the garden wall. It involved a belated conversation about Rukia's hand in marriage. Byakuya did not take it well that Ichigo hadn't asked him before he asked Rukia. Rukia had fumed at Byakuya for most of the night (and explained that Ichigo just couldn't wait any longer to ask her, and Brother, do you not remember how that felt?). By morning, Ichigo had Byakuya's blessings and a bill for repairs to the wall. For as much as he disliked Ichigo, he would not wish what he went through on anyone else.

"An accident."

She perches herself on his desk in front of him. She raises a delicate brow. He wouldn't lie and say that he didn't enjoy doing it. His solemn look earns him a sigh and a soft smile. She knows him far too well.

"Healing my idiot brother will add to the list of thing that will take even more of my time away from you."

Byakuya doesn't grumble, but it is a near thing. He blames his soon to be twice over brother-in-law and father-in-law for influencing his behavior. Instead, he leans his forehead into his wife's shoulder. She laughs gently at his antics, ever pleased that he lets his guard down around her and only her, and plays with the strands of his hair at the nape of his neck. He lifts his head to meet her eyes.

"You know that I am proud of you for your achievements. I will never resent you for going after what makes you happy."

She had been named Captain of Squad 4 just a few months ago. The adjustment hadn't been easy on them, but Byakuya understands the need to start from the ground up, to make it your own. He had still spent many late nights in his office at the beginning of their marriage, and she had supported him all the same.

"I know, Byakuya."

She cups his face and gives him a gentle smile.

"I just resent that is takes me away from the person who makes me the most happy."

He leans up to brush his lips against hers when a messenger enters into his office without knocking. He freezes in place and turns deathly pale at the glare Byakuya sends him. His wife however gives the boy a kind smile and her husband a gentle touch to his shoulder. Byakuya relents and draws himself away from her.

"Fuku-fukutaicho, said to go in. I didn't, didn't mean to interrupt, taichou!"

He snatches the papers from the messenger who departs as quickly as his legs allow. Byakuya can hear Renji laughing from his office next door. He wonders if his lieutenant will be laughing when he tells Karin that her betrothed is acting like a foolish child instead of getting his work done to see her sooner. The thought of his well deserved misery makes Byakuya happy. But, as he turns back to his desk and the woman sitting there watching him fondly, there is something else that would make him happy.

"It would make me very happy to spend time alone with my wife."

Her laugh is warm and light and echoes in the confines of his office and his heart.

"Then walk me home, husband. It is nearly time for tea."

He makes his way over to her and helps her slide from his desk. She runs her hands over his robes and uses them to pull him down so that her lips can reach his. He happily obliges. When they break apart, he does as has always done since she accepted his courting, he brushes his fingers against her necklace, their crest now, and smiles.

Yes. He is very happy indeed.

* * *

 _Sunflowers represent happiness and camellias represent devotion. Camellias are the insignia of the 6th division._

 _Jihibukai Seishin means Benevolent Spirit. Her command is Shield and Soremunsōdo is her special ability which means Solemn Sword. Using Soremunsōdo collapses the fan into something like a short knife that channel her reiatsu into a concentrated wind gust that can pierce anything it touches._


End file.
